Energy giant slammed for oil spill in Thai sea

BANGKOK (AP) — Critics are slamming Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas company for its allegedly inefficient response to an oil spill that polluted a tourist island.

About 50,000 liters (13,200 gallons) of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Thailand off Samet Island on Saturday from a leak in a pipeline operated by PTT Global Chemical Plc., a subsidiary of state-owned PTT Plc. Cleanup operations were ongoing Thursday.

Opposition lawmaker Sathit Pitutecha said Thursday that the operator failed to plan for such a problem despite previous leaks.

Srisuwan Janya, head of the Stop Global Warming Association, said the company was neither prepared for the emergency nor frank about the extent of the problem.

Authorities say the oil that blackened the waters off the island has been eliminated but that some slicks remain onshore.